FIAT in NZ and now Australia
Hi badkilla,
No new FIATs existed in Australia after the not-very-successful Croma (1985-86 ish). So much like the US, the only FIATs you see are 70s models like the 124 Spider and 124 Coupe, 128, 850 Coupe, and the X1/9 of course. There are some Regatas kicking around. I did see a private-import 1998 Coupe at an Italian car show in Canberra.
Then, all of a sudden and out of the blue, the New Zealand FIAT importer launched the Grande Punto in Australia last year! I expect that new models will be sold there, but not the existing models like the Stilo. It's quite ambitious considering that the NZ market is not exactly saturated (there's no FIAT dealer where I live in Hamilton, the fifth-largest city!)
Here in NZ we have had a steady trickle of FIATs over the years. The Uno was very popular, until the advent of the Japanese imports in 1991-ish which basically killed the market for cheap and basic new cars. I have seen a total of *two* base-model Uno Mk2 45s, for example! And I think both of those were private imports. There are some Mk1 Punto 55S models around.
The Doblo, the Cinquecento, and the Seicento never appeared here at all. The Ducato sells fairly well, particularly as an ambulance! And the Multipla got off to a strong start, though it seems to be one of those long-time models.
I think the Stilo sold pretty well considering the rarity of the Brava/Bravo and Marea before it. The Abarth seems to be the most popular model - FIAT only sold two versions of the Stilo in NZ, 1.6 and Abarth. I've seen three or four in Hamilton! But mine's the only purple one
Now we're even seeing a number of Punto Mk2s brought in as Jap used imports! Usually the HGT model.
To get back on topic, there are hundreds of Nissan Primeras in Hamilton
Guaranteed there will be a choice of several at every used-car dealer!
I just looked up the new vehicle registrations (including used imports) for 2005 (230,313 cars registered), and that made some fascinating reading (for a few minutes at least).
There were 347 Alfa Romeos registered in 2005, which is 0.1% of the total.
There were 148 FIATs... 0.06% (19 of this 148 were used imports)
and oddly enough, 27 Ferraris... 0.01%
There was one Lancia, one IVECO...
which compares well against one De Lorean, one Jensen... etc.
Two Protons, two Reliants, and two TVRs.
Eight Range Rovers, 21 Maseratis, and 387 Porsches (1.7%).
There were 33,147 Nissans registered (14.4% of the total).
I doubt that Alfa Romeo outsells FIAT two-to-one in the UK?
see
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/statistics/motor-vehicle-registration/docs/2005.pdf
-Alex
